Freshmen step up, provide Duke with options

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 01:12 AM.

Murphy drilled a 3-pointer two minutes later and went on to finish with 10 points and seven rebounds.

“For them to grow, they have to not only do it in practice, but do it in a game,” said Mason Plumlee, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer. “That’s why I thought the game was big for them, and they really played well.”

Added Krzyzewski: “We already knew they could do it. But the fact that they were out there and got those minutes is great.”

Murphy, who took a redshirt last season, hadn’t played more than six minutes in a game this season. And he didn’t get off the Duke bench in November victories against Georgia State and Virginia Commonwealth.

“I wouldn’t say the pressure’s off,” he said, “but it definitely felt good to see the ball go in. Seeing some shots fall definitely helps your confidence a little bit. You loosen up a little bit.”

Duke opted for limited substitutions in winning marquee matchups with Kentucky, Louisville and Ohio State this season.

Murphy said his growth as a player, along with the development of Jefferson and redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee (sidelined by a stress fracture in his left foot), could become pivotal factors in how the Blue Devils’ season unfolds.

Just because freshman forwards Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy are coming off a breakout game, that doesn’t mean Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski plans on cranking up new waves of player rotations and lineup combinations.

“This is not like an AAU team or whatever,” he said. “You have to make sure your group understands its roles.

“Each guy is on his own race of becoming better. They run their individual races while we’re collectively running a race. The collective race is much more important than your individual one. And you can’t compare your race to another guy’s.”

So while the Blue Devils’ substitution patterns figure to remain largely unchanged today against unbeaten Temple, at least Jefferson and Murphy — reserves whose progress will determine how deep Duke’s bench goes this season — have shown confidence-building glimpses of their capabilities.

Each logged 21 minutes in Duke’s last game, an 88-50 rout of Delaware, during which second-leading scorer Seth Curry sat out to nurse an ankle injury.

Jefferson scored 12 points, more than he had combined for in the season’s previous seven games, and grabbed six rebounds.

Murphy’s reverse layup on the baseline at the 11:21 mark of the second half delivered the first points of his Duke career, a moment that received roaring approval from the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd.

Murphy drilled a 3-pointer two minutes later and went on to finish with 10 points and seven rebounds.

“For them to grow, they have to not only do it in practice, but do it in a game,” said Mason Plumlee, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer. “That’s why I thought the game was big for them, and they really played well.”

Added Krzyzewski: “We already knew they could do it. But the fact that they were out there and got those minutes is great.”

Murphy, who took a redshirt last season, hadn’t played more than six minutes in a game this season. And he didn’t get off the Duke bench in November victories against Georgia State and Virginia Commonwealth.

“I wouldn’t say the pressure’s off,” he said, “but it definitely felt good to see the ball go in. Seeing some shots fall definitely helps your confidence a little bit. You loosen up a little bit.”

Duke opted for limited substitutions in winning marquee matchups with Kentucky, Louisville and Ohio State this season.

Murphy said his growth as a player, along with the development of Jefferson and redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee (sidelined by a stress fracture in his left foot), could become pivotal factors in how the Blue Devils’ season unfolds.

“Obviously you’ve seen what our first five can do,” Murphy said. “I think bringing along the bench is a big part of what we’re going to do if we want to make a run late March.”

Tip-off

Who: No. 2 Duke (8-0) vs. Temple (6-0)

When: 3:15 p.m. today (ESPN)

Where: Izod Center, East Rutherford, N.J.

Series: Duke leads 18-10. Temple won 78-73 last season in Philadelphia.

Tip-in: Today marks Duke’s only game in a span of 17 days, downtime connected to the school’s semester exam schedule.